Will Patching's Blog
February 24, 2016
The Story Behind the Story
Well, it has been an eventful two months since I last posted here, with a lot happening since the official launch of the audiobook of Remorseless at the end of December. I decided to
temporarily reprice the ebook to $0.00
to help boost the visibility of both editions, and also had this new cover design by
Brian Krespan
to make the image 'pop' more as the original was little dull. Thank you Brian!
I have been stunned by the results: over 40,000 copies of the ebook have been downloaded - and I've been delighted to receive so many compliments from readers who enjoyed my rather dark, disturbing tale. Thank you for reading, for your kind words and especially for the reviews, both here and at Amazon and other retailers.
The free status will remain for the time being, and with Whispersync on offer for just $1.99, the ebook/audiobook combo is currently a steal!
I am mulling over increasing the ebook price but it remains free for now, so if you would like a copy, or have friends who might enjoy this gritty tale, then I'd recommend acting without delay.
The Rap Sheet
I recently wrote a Story Behind the Story piece for The Rap Sheet, a cracking website with many great articles on crime fiction - a site I highly recommend for avid readers of this genre.
Here's a brief excerpt from my article on psychopaths, guilt and the background to Remorseless:
"During a three-month period toward the end of 2015, I spent some time as a psychopath..."
Intrigued? Well, head to The Rap Sheet to read on...
Enjoy!
Will
December 25, 2015
Everyone's a Winner - Grab Your Free Audiobook and eBook!
I hope you are having a great festive season, this being that time of year! I am writing this blog on Xmas Day/Boxing Day (depending on where you are in the world!) as I thought I would try to add some good cheer! Earlier this month I announced the Free Prize Draw for the pre-release Audiobook version of my 'gripping', 'dark', 'gritty' British Crime Thriller, Remorseless, and have already had some wonderful feedback from early listeners.
To celebrate and to thank my followers on Goodreads for their interest I have decided that everyone's a winner in this draw. Okay, I know - life's really not like that but today I am making an exception! Consider this a Xmas gift from me to you!
If you have not yet registered there is still time - head here to grab your free download link! You'll find an audio clip there, some additional blurb on the audiobook plus some info regarding my Readers Group.
If you don't want to provide your email address then just message me on here and I will send you the audio file download link in a private message. No problem!
I have just made the eBook free on major retailers too, including Amazon.com, so feel free to grab that if you are not a fan of audiobooks!
I hope you are having a wonderful festive season and I wish you much health and happiness for 2016!
Will Patching, Author
Website link
November 29, 2015
Free Book and an Audiobook Prize Draw
For any lovers of fast paced international crime thrillers with a whiff of adventure my novel The Hack is up for grabs on Amazon for free between 1st and 3rd of December.
The audiobook version of my dark and gritty British crime thriller Remorsless is now complete and with my pro sound engineer undergoing final tweaking/quality control. It will be ready for a 'soft' launch later this month with the commercial launch in January. To celebrate, I am offering 30 free copies in a prize draw to be held on 1st Jan 2016.
To enter just head here and sign up for my occasional newsletter offering free books and other goodies throughout 2016 - but if you want you can unsubscribe immediately after you are notified of the results in Jan!
You can hear the opening pages at my Remorseless novel website along with plenty of other related info.
I will also be offering another couple of paperback copies before the end of the month too, so watch this space if you would like a copy!
Good luck everyone!
The audiobook version of my dark and gritty British crime thriller Remorsless is now complete and with my pro sound engineer undergoing final tweaking/quality control. It will be ready for a 'soft' launch later this month with the commercial launch in January. To celebrate, I am offering 30 free copies in a prize draw to be held on 1st Jan 2016.
To enter just head here and sign up for my occasional newsletter offering free books and other goodies throughout 2016 - but if you want you can unsubscribe immediately after you are notified of the results in Jan!
You can hear the opening pages at my Remorseless novel website along with plenty of other related info.
I will also be offering another couple of paperback copies before the end of the month too, so watch this space if you would like a copy!
Good luck everyone!
November 12, 2015
Crime Addict
Okay, I admit it: I have an unhealthy(?) fascination with psychopaths...
I have a good excuse. I have been reading crime fiction since I was eleven or twelve so I became hooked on tales of misdeeds at an early age.
It all started one day when my mum was ill and asked me to go to the library to select some books for her.
I was quite excited as it was my first trip to the adult section and I spent an hour or more selecting four books based on the example provided by the four I returned for her.
It turned out that I was better at selecting crime novels for her than she was after twenty five years experience...
I read those novels too - after all, I had chosen them, hadn't I?
Corrupted young mind
So we can happily blame my mum for corrupting my young mind and nurturing my warped imagination - and the librarian. He was so impressed that I was avidly reading adult fare he upgraded my junior tickets so that I could borrow them on my own account, and doubled the number from four to eight.
I became a bookworm and immersed myself in crime fiction - with the occasional foray into biography, psychology and... true crime.
Eventually I just had to write a novel of my own, but found plenty of reasons not too. I think they call it writer's block. I think laziness is a more accurate term.
At the age of fourteen or fifteen I won a tri-county prize in a writing competition - nothing to do with crime, just some boring stuff about computerization in banking, but it convinced me that I could write at least as well as the authors I had read.
I could even visualize my book on the library shelf with the magical words Will Patching - Author over dozens of crime novels... but my first attempt died a death at about three thousand words, and I'm pretty sure they are still buried in a loft somewhere in the UK - best place for them, I reckon. Incidentally, my novel Remorseless is 122,000 or so - long by today's standards for indie published novels but not so much compared with the books I have read over the years.
Soon after that failed first attempt, girls, exams, university, family and having to earn a living all got in the way of my criminal writing intent.
I wrote endless business reports for the next twenty five years, then finally had an opportunity to downshift from my manic work-life and do some of the things I had left on a back burner - like writing...
So here I am!
I have a good excuse. I have been reading crime fiction since I was eleven or twelve so I became hooked on tales of misdeeds at an early age.
It all started one day when my mum was ill and asked me to go to the library to select some books for her.
I was quite excited as it was my first trip to the adult section and I spent an hour or more selecting four books based on the example provided by the four I returned for her.
It turned out that I was better at selecting crime novels for her than she was after twenty five years experience...
I read those novels too - after all, I had chosen them, hadn't I?
Corrupted young mind
So we can happily blame my mum for corrupting my young mind and nurturing my warped imagination - and the librarian. He was so impressed that I was avidly reading adult fare he upgraded my junior tickets so that I could borrow them on my own account, and doubled the number from four to eight.
I became a bookworm and immersed myself in crime fiction - with the occasional foray into biography, psychology and... true crime.
Eventually I just had to write a novel of my own, but found plenty of reasons not too. I think they call it writer's block. I think laziness is a more accurate term.
At the age of fourteen or fifteen I won a tri-county prize in a writing competition - nothing to do with crime, just some boring stuff about computerization in banking, but it convinced me that I could write at least as well as the authors I had read.
I could even visualize my book on the library shelf with the magical words Will Patching - Author over dozens of crime novels... but my first attempt died a death at about three thousand words, and I'm pretty sure they are still buried in a loft somewhere in the UK - best place for them, I reckon. Incidentally, my novel Remorseless is 122,000 or so - long by today's standards for indie published novels but not so much compared with the books I have read over the years.
Soon after that failed first attempt, girls, exams, university, family and having to earn a living all got in the way of my criminal writing intent.
I wrote endless business reports for the next twenty five years, then finally had an opportunity to downshift from my manic work-life and do some of the things I had left on a back burner - like writing...
So here I am!
October 26, 2015
Review copies available for free...
If any keen Goodreader reviewers like the opening of Remorseless and/or The Hack and would like to read more, then please contact me for a free ebook or pdf copy. The former novel is a British crime thriller and the latter an international action adventure. Both are pretty exciting - they involve psychopathic serial killers as I find them fascinating - but the styles differ somewhat.
Why?
Well, when I first wrote these novels some years ago I had a plan to create two series that would run side by side as I did not want to find myself in a groove where I felt compelled to write in just one genre. So I wrote the two!
I enjoyed creating the main characters in each novel and plan to keep them running in some fresh new scenarios I have had swirling in my brain for some time.
Sadly, life got in the way of my plans and delivered a very hectic period where writing had to take a back seat.
The good news: that's about to change. Next year will see me launch two new full length novels following up on the two I already have. Mutilated, the second in the Remorseless Doc Powers/DI Carver series, is half written so will be the first to make its début. It will likely be as dark as its predecessor, or possibly more so. You have been warned!
Until this last week or so I have never asked for reviews, but I hope some keen readers here will like the opening pages sufficiently to contact me for a review copy! I will also be offering free Remorseless audiobooks before the official release in late November so please let me know if you would like a review copy.
Thank you!
Why?
Well, when I first wrote these novels some years ago I had a plan to create two series that would run side by side as I did not want to find myself in a groove where I felt compelled to write in just one genre. So I wrote the two!
I enjoyed creating the main characters in each novel and plan to keep them running in some fresh new scenarios I have had swirling in my brain for some time.
Sadly, life got in the way of my plans and delivered a very hectic period where writing had to take a back seat.
The good news: that's about to change. Next year will see me launch two new full length novels following up on the two I already have. Mutilated, the second in the Remorseless Doc Powers/DI Carver series, is half written so will be the first to make its début. It will likely be as dark as its predecessor, or possibly more so. You have been warned!
Until this last week or so I have never asked for reviews, but I hope some keen readers here will like the opening pages sufficiently to contact me for a review copy! I will also be offering free Remorseless audiobooks before the official release in late November so please let me know if you would like a review copy.
Thank you!
October 15, 2015
Remorseless - Upcoming Audiobook and Free Print Copies
Finally, I have the time to focus on writing - and reading - so I will be a more active member here. I have recently completed the 2015 edition of my crime novel Remorseless, incorporating the best ideas from reader feedback along with a little professional editor input to perfect the work as best I can. I had planned to create a prequel as well as finish the long awaited follow up, Mutilated, to launch both in 2016, only to be immediately diverted by some reader requests to convert my novels into audiobooks.
I had considered and dismissed this idea before - it is not an easy task, with a very steep learning curve for an 'umble author - but this is another new frontier in the digital delivery of 'books' so I decided to crack on with narrating Remorseless in August. I am now over half way through and should have the finished article on Audible/Amazon in the latter half of November.
Why so long? Well, I read the novel aloud three times for practice, partly to improve my vocalisation and partly to cement the character voices in my mind. That was actually great fun to do, with the fictional figures springing off the page and coming to life: I now find myself wandering around the house narrating my own actions and speaking in character! Sad, I know, and worrying enough, but a bigger concern is that I seem to have the greatest affinity with Peter Leech - the psychopathic serial killer the story revolves around! When my wife heard me/Leech yelling threatening expletives at the contents of our fridge she honestly thought we had an intruder!
So, immediately after the divorce(!), I cracked on with the recording and editing. It is very time consuming to remove all the mouth noise - the pops and clicks we make with our tongue, teeth and gums that a sensitive mic picks up. Turns out I am a very noisy speaker too so, although the pros reckon some 4-5 hours of work per hour of finished audio and maybe 10 for a novice 'audio engineer' like me, I'm averaging nearer 20... The completed work will be c14 hours.
Hopefully, the second half of November should see the finished, polished audio ready for listener/readers to enjoy. For the pre-launch I will be offering free copies of the 2015 paperback version of Remorseless here in the run up to release so please keep an eye out for that.
Good luck Goodreaders!
I had considered and dismissed this idea before - it is not an easy task, with a very steep learning curve for an 'umble author - but this is another new frontier in the digital delivery of 'books' so I decided to crack on with narrating Remorseless in August. I am now over half way through and should have the finished article on Audible/Amazon in the latter half of November.
Why so long? Well, I read the novel aloud three times for practice, partly to improve my vocalisation and partly to cement the character voices in my mind. That was actually great fun to do, with the fictional figures springing off the page and coming to life: I now find myself wandering around the house narrating my own actions and speaking in character! Sad, I know, and worrying enough, but a bigger concern is that I seem to have the greatest affinity with Peter Leech - the psychopathic serial killer the story revolves around! When my wife heard me/Leech yelling threatening expletives at the contents of our fridge she honestly thought we had an intruder!
So, immediately after the divorce(!), I cracked on with the recording and editing. It is very time consuming to remove all the mouth noise - the pops and clicks we make with our tongue, teeth and gums that a sensitive mic picks up. Turns out I am a very noisy speaker too so, although the pros reckon some 4-5 hours of work per hour of finished audio and maybe 10 for a novice 'audio engineer' like me, I'm averaging nearer 20... The completed work will be c14 hours.
Hopefully, the second half of November should see the finished, polished audio ready for listener/readers to enjoy. For the pre-launch I will be offering free copies of the 2015 paperback version of Remorseless here in the run up to release so please keep an eye out for that.
Good luck Goodreaders!
